Glam
rock (less commonly glitter
rock), is a style of rock music popularised in the 1970s, it was mostly
a British
phenomenon and confined to larger cities in the U.S., such as New York and Los Angeles.
It was distinguished by the costumes, stage acts of the performers and bouncy
rock 'n' roll songs often oozing sexual energy. Lyrically emphasis was often on
teenage revolution (T. Rexís - "Children of the Revolution", Sweetís
- "Teenage Rampage") as well as a strong leaning towards sexuality,
decadence and fame, a statement of sorts against such acts as Pink Floyd,
King
Crimson, Yes and Genesis,
whose music was often referred to by critics as art rock.

Glam
performers often dressed androgynously in make up and glittery, outrageous
costumes, not dissimilar to costumes that Liberace or Elvis
Presley wore when performing in cabaret. The most famous example is David Bowie
during his Ziggy Stardust phase. Sexual ambiguity became a
game; Bowie told the press he was bisexual
simply for the publicity while the late Jobriath is
thought really to have been rock's first openly gay star. One of the most
famous examples of a bisexual glam rocker is Freddie
Mercury of Queen.

In
America, glam rock was most prominently represented by the proto-punk New
York Dolls, whose sleazy Rolling Stones-influenced rawk was matched by the
wildly feminine look of the band. A sensation in New York City, the group was never
able to find a wider audience, although their subsequent influence was great.
Earlier, in 1968-69, Alice Cooper had arguably sketched the first hints of
glam rock when they used a transvestite look and an overtly sexual attitude as
part of their outrageousness

In the
early 1970s he
owned a nightclub called Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, located on
West
Hollywood's Sunset Strip. It was a favorite hangout of many rock
stars and essentially introduced much of Los Angeles to glam rock.
At the height of the American disco era, Bingenheimer was so disenchanted with the stylized
dance genre that he abrubtly abandoned his English Disco so as not to be
associated with the popular movement.

Due to
his preponderent and deep connections within the burgeoning Hollywood
music scene, Bingenheimer was given a show on KROQ, called Rodney on the
'Roq, which began in 1976 and continues to the present day, albeit with some changes
in time slots.

Bingenheimer
is one of the very few DJs on commercial radio in Los Angeles who has autonomy
over what he plays. As a result, he has been the first to play many
up-and-coming bands, including Blondie,
The
Ramones, Van
Halen, Duran Duran, Oasis,
The Donnas,
No Doubt, Coldplay and
others. Many bands, such as the quirky Lippy's Garden, merely knocked on the
parking lot door of KROQ's old studio in Pasadena and handed Rodney a copy of
their music. If he found a track he liked, he would play that song within the
hour. Although his show has now been relegated to a midnight to 3 a.m. slot on
Sunday evenings, it still has a fair amount of power to make or break new
artists in some genres.